Food Sovereignty through Community Gardens in São Paulo/SP

Summary

The NGO Cities Without Hunger sets up community gardens on vacant urban land in the city of São Paulo's socioeconomically deprived East Zone (Zona Leste) to provide jobs, income, and to enhance food sovereignity.

The NGO provides agricultural training for people who have poor chances on the regular job market as community gardeners. Since 2004, the NGO has implemented 25 community gardens together with about 115 local residents who have started earning their livelihoods as community gardeners. After one year, gardeners are able to manage their plots autonomously and sell their produce directly to the people from the neighbourhood. Along with gardeners’ families, some 650 people benefit from the project by having their livelihood guaranteed.

Classifications

Region

South America

Scale of implementation

Local

Ecosystem

Green spaces (parks, gardens, urban forests)

Urban Ecosystem

Theme

Access and benefit sharing

Adaptation

Agriculture

Biodiversity mainstreaming

Cities and infrastructure

Ecosystem services

Food security

Gender mainstreaming

Genetic diversity

Habitat fragmentation and degradation

Health and human wellbeing

Mitigation

Outreach & communications

Peace and human security

Pollution

Sustainable livelihoods

Traditional knowledge

Urban planning

Sustainable development goals

SDG 1 – No poverty

SDG 2 – Zero hunger

SDG 3 – Good health and well-being

SDG 4 – Quality education

SDG 5 – Gender equality

SDG 8 – Decent work and economic growth

SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities

SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities

SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production

SDG 13 – Climate action

SDG 15 – Life on land

SDG 16 – Peace, justice and strong institutions

SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals

Aichi targets

Target 1: Awareness of biodiversity increased

Target 2: Biodiversity values integrated

Target 3: Incentives reformed

Target 4: Sustainable production and consumption

Target 7: Sustainable agriculture, aquaculture and forestry

Target 8: Pollution reduced

Target 9: Invasive alien species prevented and controlled

Target 13: Safeguarding genetic diversity

Target 14: Ecosystem services

Target 16: Access to and sharing benefits from genetic resources

Target 18: Traditional knowledge

Target 19: Sharing information and knowledge

Target 20: Mobilizing resources from all sources

Location

São Paulo - State of São Paulo, Brazil

Challenges

The city of São Paulo is economically and socially divided. The East Zone stands out as grim sprawl of poverty and violence in the municipal context. Poor social conditions, mobility infrastructure, and low economic activity keep it segregated from the rest of the metropolis. Some 3.3 million people (33% of the city’s population) live here. The unstructered growth of the urban sprawl left vacant urban land, subsequently often abused as dump site. Income levels are low. More than 90% of the residents earn less than 1530 R$ (470 US $), and 11% to 35% less than 255 R$ (80 US $) per month (Censo 2010). Often domestic migrants from Brazil's Northeast seeking jobs and income opportunities in the city end up living in this area and doing odd jobs due to their age, poor health, or lack of formally recognised education. Malnutrition and poor physical and economic access to fresh fruit and vegetables have negative impacts on citizens' health, especially on child development.

Beneficiaries

People who are marginalised in the labour market due to their age, poor health, or lack of formally recognised education

People from the neighbourhood whose economic and physical access to fresh produce is limited

How do the building blocks interact?

The Law on Urban Agriculture for the city of São Paulo sets the legal framework within which urban agriculture is actually rendered officially possible (BB 1).

The foundation of Cities Without Hunger as NGO acting on the ground in São Paulo's East Zone closes a gap between city administration and local residents (BB 2).

Visibility of the community gardens, communication among residents and through the media, and guidance through Cities Without Hunger lead to replication: People see and understand the change that is possible within the urban environment (BB 3).

Vacant urban land and landuse contracts for these areas are the prerequisite for the implementation of a community garden (BB 4).

The community gardens are financed through donations and are self-supporting after a one-year implementation phase (BB 5).

Agricultural training courses for project participants as well as potential prior knowledge in agriculture on their side facilitate the implementation of a community garden (BB 6).

Interaction Gallery

Impacts

Since 2004, Cities Without Hunger has created 25 community gardens in São Paulo's East Zone. Run by a collective of 115 community gardeners, the gardens directly support the livelihood of some 650 marginalised people, including mothers and children. Furthermore, Cities Without Hunger has organised about 50 professional qualification courses, having trained over 1,000 individuals in agriculture or commerce.

The organic mixed culture gardens have contributed to enhancing local biodiversity. Special consideration is given to old or indigenous varieties like arruda or cerejeira, medical plants, flowers, and herbs. As 'green islands' within the city, the gardens improve local microclimate and water regime. Created on abandoned public and private land, e. g. under electricity lines, or on unused areas previously abused as dumping sites, local environment is both embellished and cared for.

The gardens are social spaces fostering communication and social coherence within the neighbourhood. The gardens' substantial lighthouse effect improves the socioeconomic integration of the area: interested parties from city government or other organisations visit them as best-practice examples; or delivery partnerships like the one with pizza restaurant Carlos Pizza from upper middle class Vila Madalena district contribute to this.

Story

Agriculture from the country to the city: In search of a better livelihood

Ivone Maria Getúlio coordinates the 3,500 square metre community garden Horta Sapopemba. The garden provides jobs and income opportunities for 13 families from the immediate neighbourhood. Ivone is in her late 50ies. She was born in the municipality of Borrazópolis in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil. As a child, she helped out her parents on their small family farm, fed the chicken and pigs, and lent a hand for the work on the fields. She only went to primary school and did not follow further education. As young woman, she moved to the city of Sao Paulo and soon got married. As mother of three children, she stayed at home to take care of her family. Whenever she found an opportunity, she worked as a seller in small shops to support her family's livelihood. She would also gather disposable materials like PET bottles and cardboard on the streets and sell them to recycling cooperatives.

The plot of land where the community garden is implemented today used to be a desolate area bordering a favela above an oil pipeline. Big signs saying "ATENÇÃO – Dutos Enterrados – Não acender fogueiras – Não jogar lixo ou entulhos" (ATTENTION – Buried Pipelines – Do Not Light Fire – Do Not Dump Waste or Rubble) are reminders of the city's uncontrolled sprawl.

In order to implement a community garden here, CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER concluded a contract for the area's use with the proprietor, petroleum supplier Transpetro. Crucial for the agricultural cultivation of this area is CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER's technological know-how, since plant roots must not exceed a certain length due to the oil pipeline. Within a year, the organisation brought together a group of local residents who, similar to Ivone, sought to find jobs and income opportunities allowing for a dignified life for themselves and their families. Supported by the NGO's expertise, agricultural training courses, and machines, they prepared the soil, planted and sowed. Within a year, the garden became self-supported, managed by Ivone. The community garden gave Ivone a new perspective, not least because she is able to work in an area she knows a lot about from her childhood. "I grew up in agriculture. The community garden is my life. It nourishes me and my family and gives me great joy", she smiles.